The Learning Process: The Process of Everything

Everything that we do is a process. Moreover, in whatever we could hope to learn, create, or achieve, the process that we go through – from initial inspiration, through exploration, cultivation, progress and accumulation, amalgamation, refinement, and into expression – is ultimately the same no matter what we choose to do. And learning is at the heart of it. Therefore, the learning process exemplifies the process of everything.

If you can master the learning process itself, which entails a discovery of what this process specifically means to you and looks like for you, then you are moving upon a path that ultimately leads to liberation. Liberation of the expression of who you are based on your ability to learn and develop skill in anything  that inspires you or that you are passionate about, which ultimately results in freedom in your life because you are able to realize any project or ambition based on this ability to learn and create.

This is an introduction to this topic which I will cover in depth over time, as it is something that I feel is important for all people, and which is especially important to me because it is knowledge that I have earned and have consciously refined as it has played such a major role in my own work trying to solve the puzzle of who I am, and how to express all that I am. Thus, without further ado, I introduce you to my understanding of the learning process, the process of everything.

The Learning Process :: Exploring the Unknown

Virtually every art or discipline that we could hope to learn, any project that we could seek to undertake, are already developed disciplines. Each already possess a definite form of sorts. Physics already has a fundamental form and corpus of knowledge, so too does biology, and chemistry. The discipline of yoga has a core set of postures, martial arts fundamental techniques, music has it’s various styles with artists and creators in each whom one could choose to learn from, while languages possess a foundation of common vocabulary and grammar.

Each of these things already exist, but they are hidden from us. Thus the learning process, especially when we attempt something new, is as if we were approaching a gigantic colossal sculpture cloaked in darkness and shadow. A metaphor for our initial ignorance as beginners of the totality of knowledge, skills, and understanding inherent within any discipline.

If our purpose is to make advances in any one of these disciplines and so push the frontier of knowledge, then we must first ultimately come to a deep familiarity of the entire structure in order to explore a specific branch further into the unknown than it has previously gone before. Or if our purpose is artistic, driven by creativity and a desire for self-expression, we must still develop the skills and knowledge inherent within our chosen art, amalgamating them within us naturally as we begin to apply them in our own way to express our own unique ideas and emotions.

The learning process then is our journey of investigating this great unknown edifice, internalizing its body of knowledge and skills so that we can reach its highest branches in comprehension and in skill. Then, and only then, will we possibly be able to express in our creations and work the force which drove us there in the first place. That desire to know this thing so unquenchable that it fueled our determination and resolve which allowed us to surmount every challenge that arose along the path, sacrificing as we did so for our passion and this sense of purpose which drove us. This is both the end and the beginning of the learning process, and that which carries us throughout: passion and a desire to explore the unknown.

The Learning Process :: Piece by Piece

Image Credit: Pixabay

Each discipline is so vast that it is not possible to take it all in at once. At best we can grasp a superficial understanding of it’s basic structure and general content. Yet with no depth, because we simply cannot comprehend the subtlety of each piece of a discipline (such as a technique or idea) without the foundation of knowledge necessary for any deep understanding to blossom.

This is because we learn about a discipline over time in pieces. You learn an instrument one song at a time, a language one sentence at a time, a subject one topic at a time, a dance one movement at a time, and an art one technique or creation at a time. This process really cannot be rushed. Each piece adds to our knowledge and skill, while also contributing to our total understanding. It is only through the accumulation of a body of related and relevant knowledge that internal structure, form, and interconnection begins to emerge. As our knowledge reaches this stage of critical mass as all our skills begin to interconnect and amalgamate into one another, it is here that comprehension and ability really begin to rise. It is this amalgamation of knowledge and skill, far more so than accumulation, which takes time to deepen, and arise within us, which spontaneously erupts through us as leaps in our understanding and skill.

Internal structure of a thing can only be truly comprehend little by little over years. I really do believe this. I have optimized my learning process and the rate at which I can learn new things to a considerable extent, however I have found unequivocally that there is no replacement for years of dedicated practice and experience. You can learn to play guitar “well” in months, yet it will probably still take you a decade to actually create anything that comes remotely close to the works of Rory Gallagher or Jimi Hendrix. It is almost like we have to prove our commitment to our art or discipline before she opens herself up to us.

We can master pieces to some degree in days or weeks, but never a whole discipline. In my process of language learning, which has been one of the greatest teachers of what learning and the learning process really entails, I have made the most progress through a study of sentences (which I now do from the beginning when I learn a new language). Each sentence adds vocabulary contextually, which is the only place where subtle nuances of meaning for each word really become clear. Each sentence also gives a general new form in which to express an idea, teaching grammar and conjugation organically. And as grammar and vocabulary grow together (along with reading comprehension and listening comprehension) our ability to connect words together in sentences, first haltingly as simple ideas which eventually morph into increasingly complex meaning, language begins to develop in a wonderful process of interconnection and exploration.

This is the learning process. With each new thing we learn, our understanding of the whole increases. Each piece lends clarity to everything that it is connected with, like a puzzle, until there are enough pieces that deeper meaning (and greater skill, ability, and understanding) start to emerge and coalesce within us. This awareness of the deeper picture allows the pieces to fall into their correct place, which only increases the rate of the learning process, because the organization of the pieces increases how many pieces we can take in at a given time.

This is also how memory best functions. You don’t need to memorize every little bit and piece of something. We need to understand the meaning of a thing. Memorization implies to me that we don’t understand. If you have to memorize values, then you don’t understand how they were derived. Or if you have to memorize individual notes in a song, then you don’t yet understand the structure of the song. Likewise, if you have to memorize words, then you don’t know what they mean. There is no memorization necessary in what the word “love” means. It is referring to a very specific thing that cannot be forgotten once it is felt.

The Learning Process :: Revelation & Adventure

The learning process is ultimately organic, as it is fundamentally discovery of meaning through exploration and application. I believe that it is this process of exploration which ultimately allows us to really come to grips with something, to understand it deeply. Thus an essential element of the creative and learning process is that of exploration.

We are trying to discover, which is what learning literally is: achieving knowledge we at one time had no inkling of, or cultivating skills which ultimately result in and reveal an awareness unknown to us before. Such as the experience of having music flow through you, or gliding complexly through movement in a dance or form. By its very nature, this is exploration at its most fundamental.

What a wondrous joy and adventure! Not the mindless stress of cramming for exams, trying to stay on top of your homework, or meeting a deadline at which point this knowledge becomes dead and lifeless, nearly devoid of any real meaning. Instead, the learning process at its heart is the process of revealing the unknown, illuminating some beautiful artifice, some work of art, little by little until it is understood deeply and unconsciously. With each piece we discover something new, and with each new discovery, other knowledge clicks into place and we see it in a new light, resulting in little revelations and breakthroughs in skill or our understanding of something.

These little insights, discoveries of interconnections, and revelations are the fruits of our labor. They are our own little discoveries, achieved all by ourselves through our own effort. Even if these discoveries are not new in the greater scheme of the discipline itself, they are still truly humbling, exciting, and important. This is where the true joy of learning lies, in the comprehension and discovery of something that we found out ourselves. That we realized. Those revelations along the way as things fall into place and we comprehend in an instant what was invisible to us before, or are able to do something with our bodies, some skill that we have never been able to do before. There is little as beautiful as this experience of progress and transformation, which we can have regularly with the right discipline.

Anything that can be studied is already a work of art. Music? A vast field of infinite potential, emotion that there is no limit to what can be expressed, or how. The human body? A work of art of such skill and genius that it is above anything that we have ever created. When we study nature, physics, the cosmos, in one sense it is like we are studying the work of intelligence and awareness so great, as to elevate ourselves through the process.

This is how we should approach all learning. On the one hand we are exploring a subject or art. We are learning about its breadth, and in what ways it has been used before, its fundamental knowledge, and who the creators and artists were that defined and evolved this discipline. We are also discovering the styles of creators that we personally resonate with. Yet on the other hand we are learning deep fundamental truths about ourselves, about others, and about nature, reality, or the cosmos if you are so inclined. This is what learning is all about.

We learn first from those people who inspire us and whose work strikes a chord in our heart. Then, as is inevitable, we begin to mimic their skills, knowledge, and creations as we internalize techniques and ideas rapidly. Soaking in new knowledge of our art, until eventually some of our own ideas and techniques begin to form. Which we clarify, hone, and crystallize throughout the learning process and our practice. Always adding more, amalgamating, diversifying, and refining perpetually to the penetrating, razor sharp potency of channeled emotion expressed with incredible skill.

Engaging In The Learning Process

This learning process is an art in and of itself, and if we ever want to achieve success in anything, we have to engage in this process. It is not about memorization, or mindlessly taking in information, but seeking to understand and discover. While at the same time seeking to discover ourselves, grow, and progress in our arts and life. This is the heart of the learning process.

It truly is difficult to step back far enough from our own attitudes and deeply ingrained approach to the learning process, especially if we are under pressure in our lives. Because this also entails a questioning of our fundamental habits, even going so far as to question if what we are doing is even worth as much to us as our habit of doing it would have us believe. However, we have to make time to ask these questions, to refine our learning process and change our approach wherever it is incorrect, because that is the only path which leads to long-term perpetual growth, even if it temporarily appears as a step backwards. For that step backwards is what is necessary to temporarily disengage from our incorrect habits in order to change them, which are mindlessly pushing us forwards, yet ultimately impeding our progress.

Learning is this process of exploration and refinement. It is an active adventure, not a dreary task. And it is only our approach to the learning process, our understanding of it, and our level of deep engagement within it which determines what the experience is like for us.

Ultimately we have to learn how to enjoy it. However, in order to enjoy it, we have to go back to the drawing board and figure out our process. Therefore understanding the learning process is just as much the exploration and discovery of ourselves as well. For we take in, amalgamate, and master knowledge, yet the ultimate goal in the end is usually some form of expression, a performance, creation, or project which encompasses all that we have learnt and discovered, embodying just how much we have grown, and all that we have learned about ourselves along the way.

Learning and the learning process are not just about taking in information, but comprehending it, seeing the world as it is, and then expressing the truth of what we have discovered. It is a process, and processes are never at an end, because we can refine this process for our whole lives. I have been refining my own learning process and my creative process over the last 8 years (as of 03/2018), and I know I will do so for the rest of my life, because I am always finding new things to learn, do and discover. Especially within arts I have been practicing this whole time.

So if you think you are done, if you think you know how to learn, are you sure? Or are you just afraid to look beneath the surface and remove things that are in your way which you would rather not accept? I challenge you to find out, because each refinement that you make in your own process is another degree of liberation of the full expression of who you are.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead —his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.” – Albert Einstein